The Pine Ridge Panthers pushed their score all the way to 67 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a hard 83-67 fall against Master's Academy. While losing is never fun, Pine Ridge can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 444th, while Master's Academy is ranked 100th).
Pine Ridge's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jyles Newman, who scored 23 points along with eight rebounds. That's the first time this season that Newman pulled down eight or more rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Elijah Laird, who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Pine Ridge and nudges their season record down to 5-8. As for Master's Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Pine Ridge will take on Deltona at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Master's Academy, their homestand continues as they prepare to take on Seabreeze at 7:00 p.m. on January 12th. Seabreeze is hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
